BRT won’t exactly be right there. The Star Tribune’s Janet Moore reports: “Although delighted with his new house in Uptown, Alan Wiggs still misses the convenient access to light rail he enjoyed while living in downtown Minneapolis. … But come 2024, that will change when the B Line begins service. … The $65 million arterial bus-rapid transit line will connect Uptown with Union Depot, operating primarily along Lake Street in Minneapolis and Marshall and Selby avenues in St. Paul. … ‘I am very excited about the B Line,’ said Wiggs, a bank employee who doesn’t have a car. Now, visiting friends or going to shows in the Capitol City using public transportation is ‘time consuming.’”
Acknowledging the legacy of boarding schools. The Duluth News Tribune’s Peter Passi reports: “After lengthy and often emotional testimony from members of the Northland’s Indigenous community, the Duluth City Council passed a resolution Monday night acknowledging the pain and suffering caused by years of a federal policy that separated Native American children from their families, sent them away to boarding schools and sought to scrub them of their Indigenous heritage. … Ray ‘Skip’ Sandman said his mother was taken away from her family at age 6 and sent to boarding school. She was unable to return until after her 18th birthday, and Sandman said that by then, the damage had been done. … ‘She had lost her language. She had lost her culture. She had lost her belief in being Native,’ he said.”
First city on the Mississippi and in our hearts. In the Wall Street Journal, Jon Kamp writes: “Shara Gaona didn’t know much about Topeka when the pandemic struck. But the remote-working United Airlines analyst, untethered from her Chicago office, decided to move to the Kansas capital and collect $10,000 in local government incentives. … Topeka is on a growing list of locations — from Bemidji, Minn., to the state of West Virginia — dangling incentives to entice remote workers. Many companies are offering office-free jobs, and some workers are willing to relocate for cash, cheaper housing or other perks.”
No relief in sight. The Forum News Service’s Dana Ferguson reports (via the West Central Tribune): “State agriculture industry leaders on Tuesday, Oct. 12, called on Minnesota lawmakers to approve $10 million in emergency funding for farmers hit hardest by historically dry conditions in the state. … Gov. Tim Walz and his administration last month proposed the relief package for farmers and livestock producers who sold off animals or lost their crops due to the drought. But lawmakers have not yet been able to reach a deal on that package or a plan for sending $250 million to frontline workers who remained on the job during the pandemic.”
In other news…
Attention dog lovers: “‘Clear the Shelter’: Minneapolis animal shelter waives fees for adoptable dogs” [KARE]
Coming for that Minnesota ice: “European connection gives Tommies women’s hockey roster a boost” [Pioneer Press]
Congrats to Owamni and Sooki & Mimi: “2 Minneapolis Restaurants Make the New York Times 2021 Restaurant List” [Racket]
